Practice Makes Permanent

So often as musicians we hear the phrase "practice makes perfect". But one of my students once told me a much better phrase she picked up from her voice teacher:

Practice Makes Permanent

What does this mean? It means that everything you do on the instrument affects your playing. Any incorrect movements in your playing will show up later as part of your "muscle memory" (how your body remembers to play it).

In other words, make sure your habits are good right from the get-go. Don't allow any bad habits into your playing (in practice this is pretty much impossible, but you should do your best to follow it as closely as you can). Don't use the wrong fingers, or ignore the correct strumming, or anything else like that, because you don't want to get used to playing something the wrong way.

Always do your best to use the correct habits when playing. Be very thoughtful about your practice, and don't allow for mindless repetition. Mindless repetition almost always leads to bad habits with your playing technique, even if you're not aware of them!

Because practice makes permanent, don't do anything while practicing that you don't want to be part of your playing. Use proper technique whenever possible, and always pay close attention to how you're playing. This will make it much easier to learn your instrument, even if you're relatively new to playing.

Practice in two dimensions (if you don't know what I mean by this, check out my post here).